Understanding GitFlow

It is the branching model for Git. 

GitFlow Branches:

• Master
• Develop
• Feature
• Release
• HotFix.

Master branch:

It is the main branch and the source code in the head should always be ready for production.

Develop branch:

It is an integration branch of all features that are committed by developers. Once code in develop branch becomes stable, all changes in develop branch should be merged into master. Each time a commit is made into master, it will be a new production release.

Feature branch:

It is usually created by each developer to work on a single task or a ticket. 

It usually branches off of develop and merge back into develop.

Release branch:

It is a temporary integration branch where all source code testing will be done here before merging code into master branch. Instead of code failures in master branch, all code issues should be fixed in this branch and then merge into master.

It branches off of develop and merge back into develop and master.

HotFix branch:

It deals with emergency fixes to production site. Changes required to fix the issue in the master branch  is made in this branch.

It branches off of master and merge back into master and develop.